Thought for Today: Wednesday December 04
Think of it this way today: We have a great need for Moshiach AND we have a great Moshiach for all our needs.
"And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal."
1S 15
FIRST MACCABEES
CHAPTER 14
In the one hundred and seventy-second year, King Demetrius assembled his army and marched into Media to obtain help so that he could fight Trypho. When Arsaces, king of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius had entered his territory, he sent one of his generals to take him alive. The general went forth and attacked the army of Demetrius; he captured him and brought him to Arsaces, who put him under guard.
The land was at rest all the days of Shimon, who sought the welfare of his nation. His rule delighted his people and his esteem all his days. As his crowning esteem he took Yapha for a port and made it a gateway to the isles of the sea. He enlarged the borders of his nation and gained control of the country.He took many prisoners of war and made himself master of Gazara, Beth-zur, and the citadel. He cleansed the citadel of its impurities; there was no one to withstand him. The people cultivated their land in peace; the land yielded its produce, the trees of the field their fruit. Old men sat in the squares, all talking about the pleasant times, while the young men put on the glorious raiment of war. He supplied the cities with food and equipped them with means of defense, till his glorious name reached the ends of the earth. He brought peace to the land, and Yisrael was filled with great joy. Every one sat under his vine and fig tree, with no one to disturb them. No attacker was left in the land; the kings in those days were crushed. He strengthened all the lowly among his people and was zealous for the law; he destroyed the lawless and the wicked. The sanctuary he made splendid and multiplied its furnishings.
When people in Rome and even in Sparta heard that Yonathan had died, they were deeply grieved. But when they heard that his brother Shimon had become Koheyn Gadol in his place and was master of the territory and its cities, they sent him inscribed tablets of bronze to renew with him the friendship and alliance that they had established with his brothers Yehudah and Yonathan. These were read before the assembly in Yerushalayim.
This is a copy of the letter that the Spartans sent: “The rulers and the city of the Spartans send greetings to Shimon the Koheyn Gadol, the elders, the kohanym, and the rest of the Yehudy people, our brothers. The ambassadors sent to our people have informed us of your esteem and renown, and we rejoiced at their coming. In accordance with what they said we have recorded the following in the public decrees: Numenius, son of Antiochus, and Antipater, son of Yason, ambassadors of the Yehudym, have come to us to renew their friendship with us. The people have resolved to receive these men with honor, and to deposit a copy of their words in the public archives, so that the people of Sparta may have a record of them. A copy of this decree has been made for Shimon the Koheyn Gadol.”
After this, Shimon sent Numenius to Rome with a large gold shield weighing a thousand minas, to confirm the alliance with the Romans.
When the people heard of these things, they said, “How shall we thank Shimon and his sons? He and his brothers and his father’s house have stood firm and repulsed Yisrael’s enemies, and so have established its freedom.” So they made an inscription on bronze tablets, which they affixed to pillars on Mount Tzion.
The following is a copy of the inscription: “On the eighteenth day of Elul, in the one hundred and seventy-second year, that is, the third year under Shimon the great Koheyn Gadol in Asaramel, in a great assembly of kohanym, people, rulers of the nation, and elders of the region, the following proclamation was made to us:
“‘Since there have often been wars in our country, Shimon, son of the koheyn Mattithyahu, descendant of Yoariv, and his brothers have put themselves in danger and resisted the enemies of their nation, so that their sanctuary and law might be maintained, and they have thus brought great esteem to their nation. Yonathan rallied the nation, became their Koheyn Gadol, and was gathered to his people. When their enemies sought to invade and ravage their country and to violate their sanctuary, Shimon rose up and fought for his nation, spending large sums of his own money to equip his nation’s forces and give them their pay. He fortified the cities of Yehudah, especially the border city of Beth-zur, formerly the site of the enemy’s weaponry, and he stationed there a garrison of Yehudy soldiers. He also fortified Yapha by the sea and Gazara on the border of Azotus, a place previously occupied by the enemy; these cities he settled with Yehudym and furnished them with all that was necessary for their restoration. When the people saw Shimon’s fidelity and the esteem he planned to bring to his nation, they made him their leader and Koheyn Gadol because of all he had accomplished and the justice and fidelity he had shown his nation. In every way he sought to exalt his people.
“‘In his time and under his guidance they succeeded in driving the gentiles out of their country and those in the City of David in Yerushalayim, who had built for themselves a citadel from which they used to sally forth to defile the environs of the sanctuary and inflict grave injury on its purity. In this citadel he stationed Yehudy soldiers, and he strengthened its fortifications for the security of the land and the city, while he also built up the wall of Yerushalayim to a greater height. Consequently, King Demetrius confirmed him in the Kehunnah, made him one of his friends, and conferred great honor on him. This was because he had heard that the Romans had addressed the Yehudym as friends, allies, and brothers, that they had received Shimon’s envoys with honor, and that the Yehudy people and their kohanym had decided the following: Shimon shall be their leader and Koheyn Gadol forever until a trustworthy prophet arises. He shall act as governor over them, and shall have charge of the sanctuary, to make regulations concerning its functions and concerning the country, its weapons and strongholds. He shall be obeyed by all. All contracts in the country shall be written in his name, and he shall be clothed in purple and gold. It shall not be lawful for any of the people or kohanym to nullify any of these decisions, or to contradict the orders given by him, or to convene an assembly in the country without his consent, to be clothed in purple or wear a gold buckle. Whoever acts otherwise or violates any of these prescriptions shall be liable to punishment.
“‘Thus all the people approved of granting Shimon the right to act in accord with these decisions, and Shimon accepted and agreed to be Koheyn Gadol, governor, and ethnarch of the Yehudy people and kohanym, and to have authority over all.’”
It was decreed that this inscription should be engraved on bronze tablets, to be set up in a conspicuous place in the precincts of the sanctuary, and that copies of it should be deposited in the treasury, where they would be available to Shimon and his sons.
FIRST MACCABEES
CHAPTER 13
When Shimon heard that Trypho was gathering a large army to invade and ravage the land of Yehudah, and saw that the people were trembling with terror, he went up to Yerushalayim. There he assembled the people and exhorted them in these words: “You know what I, my brothers, and my father’s house have done for the laws and the sanctuary; what battles and hardships we have seen. For the sake of this, for the sake of Yisrael, all my brothers have perished, and I alone am left. Far be it from me, then, to save my own life in any time of distress, for I am not better than my brothers. But I will avenge my nation and the sanctuary, as well as your wives and children, for out of hatred all the gentiles have united to crush us.”
As the people heard these words, their spirit was rekindled. They shouted in reply: “You are our leader in place of your brothers Yehudah and Yonathan. Fight our battles, and we will do everything that you tell us.” So Shimon mustered all the men able to fight, and hastening to complete the walls of Yerushalayim, fortified it on every side. He sent Yonathan, son of Abshalom, to Yapha with a strong force; Yonathan drove out the occupants and remained there.
Then Trypho moved from Ptolemais with a large army to invade the land of Yehudah, bringing Yonathan with him as a prisoner. Shimon encamped at Adida, facing the plain. When Trypho learned that Shimon had succeeded his brother Yonathan, and that he intended to fight him, he sent ambassadors to him with this message: “It was on account of the money your brother Yonathan owed the royal treasury in connection with the offices that he held, that we have detained him. Now send a hundred talents of silver, and two of his sons as hostages to guarantee that when he is set free he will not revolt against us, and we will release him.”
Shimon knew that they were speaking deceitfully to him. Nevertheless, for fear of provoking much hostility among the people, he sent for the money and the boys, lest the people say “Yonathan perished because I would not send Trypho the money and the boys.” So he sent the boys and the hundred talents; but Trypho broke his promise and would not release Yonathan.
Next Trypho moved to invade and ravage the country. His troops went around by the road that leads to Adora, but Shimon and his army moved along opposite him everywhere he went. The people in the citadel kept sending emissaries to Trypho, pressing him to come to them by way of the wilderness, and to send them provisions. Although Trypho got all his cavalry ready to go, there was a very heavy snowfall that night, and he could not go on account of the snow. So he left for Gilead. When he was approaching Baskama, he had Yonathan killed and buried him there. Then Trypho returned to his own land.
Shimon sent for the remains of his brother Yonathan, and buried him in Modein, the city of his ancestors. All Yisrael bewailed him with solemn lamentation, mourning over him for many days. Then Shimon erected over the tomb of his father and his brothers a monument of stones, polished front and back, and raised high enough to be seen at a distance. He set up seven pyramids facing one another for his father and his mother and his four brothers. For the pyramids he devised a setting of massive columns, which he adorned with suits of armor as a perpetual memorial, and next to the armor carved ships, which could be seen by all who sailed the sea. This tomb which he built at Modein is there to the present day.
Trypho dealt treacherously with the young King Antiochus. He killed him and became king in his place, putting on the crown of Asia. Thus he brought much evil on the land. Shimon, for his part, built up the strongholds of Yehudah, fortifying them all around with high towers, thick walls, and gates with bars, and he stored up provisions in the strongholds. Shimon also chose men and sent them to King Demetrius to obtain for the land an exemption from taxation, since Trypho did nothing but plunder. King Demetrius replied favorably and sent him the following letter:
“King Demetrius sends greetings to Shimon, Koheyn Gadol and friend of kings, and to the elders and the Yehudy people. We have received the gold crown and the palm branch that you sent. We are ready to make a lasting peace with you and to write to our officials to grant you exemption. Whatever decrees we have made in your regard remain in force, and the strongholds that you have built you may keep. We pardon any oversights and offenses committed up to now, as well as the crown tax that you owe. Any other tax that used to be collected in Yerushalayim shall no longer be collected there. Any of you qualified for enrollment in our service may be enrolled. Let there be peace between us.”
Thus in the one hundred and seventieth year, the yoke of the gentiles was removed from Yisrael, and the people began to write in their records and contracts, “In the first year of Shimon, great Koheyn Gadol, governor, and leader of the Yehudym.”
In those days Shimon besieged Gazara and surrounded it with troops. He made a siege machine, brought it up against the city, and attacked and captured one of the towers. Those in the siege machine leaped down into the city and a great tumult arose there. Those in the city, together with their wives and children, went up on the wall, with their garments rent, and cried out in loud voices, begging Shimon to grant them terms of peace. They said, “Treat us not according to our evil deeds but according to your mercy.” So Shimon came to terms with them and did not attack them. He expelled them from the city, however, and he purified the houses in which there were idols. Then he entered the city with hymns and songs of praise. After removing from it everything that was impure, he settled there people who observed the law. He improved its fortifications and built himself a residence.
The people in the citadel in Yerushalayim were prevented from going out into the country and back to buy or sell; they suffered greatly from hunger, and many of them died of starvation. They finally cried out to Shimon, and he gave them terms of peace. He expelled them from the citadel and cleansed it of impurities. On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred and seventy-first year, the Yehudym entered the citadel with shouts of praise, the waving of palm branches, the playing of harps and cymbals and lyres, and the singing of hymns and canticles, because a great enemy of Yisrael had been crushed. Shimon decreed that this day should be celebrated every year with rejoicing. He also strengthened the fortifications of the Temple mount alongside the citadel, and he and his people dwelt there. Seeing that his son Yochanan was now a grown man, Shimon made him commander of all his soldiers, and he dwelt in Gazara.
Joyful Rosh Chodesh! The evening of 12/3 began the first day of the ninth biblical month.
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:6-8 ESV
God gives everyone a range of skillsets that we can use in service to his kingdom. Leadership, administration, mechanics, languages, etc. The list of possible gifts of God is endless! In this passage Paul mentions several of those gifts, and here's what each of them is really about.
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There are good and bad traditions. Don't throw them out just because they're man-made.
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REPENT AND ABSTAIN FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY
REPENT AND ABSTAIN FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY
Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
Proverbs 10:6
The righteous don't need to hide their actions. Everything they do, they can do in the open without fear, assuming the wicked don't occupy the majority of positions of power. The wicked, on the other hand, hide everything they do instinctively. They lie, conspire, sneak, censor, accuse, and threaten to hide their activities.
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